Background:
Mr. Mackey was the enlisted navigator and helmsman on the USS Lowry as part of 7th Fleet in Vietnam. The Lowry provided plane guard, naval gunfire support and protection for the 101st Airborne Base, the DMZ area and Mekong Delta area. Mr. Mackey’s second mission on the Lowry was a highly classified mission off the coast of China shortly after the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans. Mr. Mackey also had the privilege of being at the helm of the Lowry during a transit through the Panama Canal. Mr. Mackey is a lifelong resident of south Florida and the Historian and past-President of the Lowry Association.